Inside Art

By Carol Vogel

Published: April 8, 2005

Lichtenstein Drawings For the National Gallery

Thirteen drawings by Roy Lichtenstein have been given to the National Gallery of Art in Washington by Lichtenstein's widow, Dorothy; his sons, David and Mitchell;and the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation in memory of Jane Meyerhoff, the Maryland collector who died in October.

The drawings are all studies for paintings by Lichtenstein, the Pop artist, that were promised to the Gallery in 1987 by Meyerhoff and her husband, Robert. It is rare that a museum has not only examples of important paintings by an important artist but also the drawings that preceded them.

''This gift is both touching and important,'' said Earl A. Powell III, director of the National Gallery. ''It expands the dimension of the collection.''

The drawings also provide an important look at Lichtenstein's thinking and his painting process. It was his practice to keep the informal drawings he made for his paintings. Jack Cowart, executive director of the Roy Lichtenstein Foundation, recalled that the artist once said, ''I try to do it all in the drawing.'' What he meant, Mr. Cowart explained, was that through drawing he selected the subject, concept and rough composition of a painting.

Lichtenstein would frequently enlarge his small, sketchy drawings of a painting he intended to make onto a canvas. Although most of the drawings executed on the canvas disappeared under the paintings, the artist's estate still has many of his original sketches.

The 13 drawings that make up the gift date from 1973 to 1992. (Lichtenstein died in 1997.) In two instances they includes two drawings for a painting. Lichtenstein made two drawings for his 1973 ''Still Life,'' which depicts a large melon and three small lemons on the edge of a table, and two for the 1978 painting ''Razzmatazz,'' the artist's surrealist image of a conventional folding chair in the center of a canvas surrounded by such disparate figures as a white-coated man looking at a female cartoon character and a standing nude sculpture in Henry Moore's style.

For his well-known triptych ''Cow Going Abstract'' (1974), the artist made three drawings as preparatory studies that are included in the gift. ''These, like the ones for 'Razzmatazz,' are the finished, masterly drawings,'' Mr. Cowart said.

Other drawings include a 1992 study for ''Bedroom at Arles,'' Lichtenstein's humorous interpretation of van Gogh's famous 1888 painting of the same name.

With this gift, the gallery's Lichtenstein holdings now total 4 paintings, 20 drawings, 320 prints, 8 sculptures and an illustrated book of a poem by Allen Ginsberg. The Meyerhoffs' 11 paintings by Lichtenstein are to enter the collection upon Mr. Meyerhoff's death. The drawings will go on view in the East Building Study Center from April 23 to July 24.

Museum Accompanists

As an exercise in looking at its holdings in a new way, the Mus?d'Orsay in Paris invited several contemporary artists to choose one work each from its collection (which spans 1848 to 1914) and create a work to be shown alongside it. This week the Manhattan sculptor Joel Shapiro installed a colorful abstract sculpture alongside Carpeaux's scandalous and most famous sculpture, ''TheDance.''

When ''The Dance'' was created for the Paris Opera House in 1869, the stone sculpture, which depicts a circle of dancing nude women, was considered shocking because of the realistic nature of the female nudes. It caused such violent reactions that someone threw a bottle of ink on it. At the time, however, the French critic ?ile Zola told him ''The Dance'' was a symbol of the Empire and the dissolute mores of the court and the ruling classes.

Mr. Shapiro chose ''The Dance'' because, he said, ''it's such a juicy, opulent piece right in the center of the museum.'' Mr. Shapiro was also taken with its history. In response, his own sculpture is a colorful sequence of tumbling blocks in bright yellow, green, red and black. ''It's about movement,'' Mr. Shapiro said. ''I felt I could use color to compensate for the depleted color of 'The Dance.''' Other artists invited to participate in the program are the French Conceptualist Christian Boltanski, the British sculptor Anthony Caro and the American glass artist Michael Glancy.

Black, White and Color

Kara Walker's black-and-white silhouettes, loosely based on 18th- and 19th-century cutouts, have recently been installed along the walls of the Grand Staircase -- from the lobby to the second floor -- of Arnhold Hall (formerly University Hall) at New School University, 55 West 13th Street in Greenwich Village. The university commissioned the work as part of its effort to bring contemporary art to the public.

The New School has a long tradition of putting art in its buildings. In 1930, when it inaugurated its first made-to-measure home at 66 West 12th Street, it commissioned three site-specific projects from contemporary artists: five frescoes by Jos?lemente Orozco; a series of paintings by Thomas Hart Benton (sold to the Equitable Life Assurance Society of America in 1984 for $3.4 million); and three large works by Camilo Egas.

Two years ago Sol LeWitt created ''Wall Drawing No. 1073, Bars of Color (New School)'' for the building's first and second floors. One of Mr. LeWitt's bold, geometric diagonals in strong primary colors stands in stark contrast to Ms. Walker's black-and-white work.

''It was high time we included a woman,'' said Stefano Basilico, curator of the university's art collection. ''We wanted something that would play off the colorful abstract of the LeWitt.''

Chairman for the Noguchi

Samuel Sachs II, the former director of the Frick Collection, has been named chairman of the board of the Isamu Noguchi Foundation and Garden Museum in Long Island City, Queens. Mr. Sachs, who stepped down from his job at the Frick two years ago, is also president of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation in East Hampton, N.Y.

At the Noguchi Museum, which reopened in June after a $13.5 million, two-and-a-half year renovation, Mr. Sachs will help oversee the direction and fund-raising. He replaces Isaac Shapiro, who has retired after 20 years as chairman.

Photo: A study for ''Cow Triptych (Cow Going Abstract)'' (1974) is among 13 Lichtenstein drawings donated to the National Gallery of Art. (Photo by National Gallery of Art, Washington)